Can you have a virtual mentor that you’ve never met?

I do not believe reading a book about someone or watching their videos on Youtube is enough to call someone a mentor.

Mentorship requires real-time feedback. It requires a relationship in which the mentor can be brutally honest with the mentee.

This is exactly why I do conference calls with business owners and entrepreneurs. I want to be able to give them honest feedback/criticism on what they can do better. Sometimes people just need someone to vent to, by the end of the conversation they’ve solved the problem themselves.

Haven’t you noticed it’s always easier to diagnose someone else’s problem although your problems seem impossible to fix? (Don’t worry that’s not you that’s everybody). I believe the reason for this is that we become so emotionally attached to the problem that we can’t see the solution starting straight at us.

Good mentors tend to be better problem solvers because they have no emotional attachment to the problem.

If you are thinking that you need a mentor in your life please follow through on it. That is your deep gut intuition (self-awareness) telling you to go find one to work with. Having been mentored by some of the best in my industry and have mentored others here are my suggestions for doing so.

Look at some of the best people in your industry. Who do they work with? I guarantee you they have a mentor already. Remember even Michael Jordan had a coach.[1]I wrote about that in one of my blog post.

Know what type of teaching style you work best with. Years ago I was working with a consultant who was considered by many an expert in his field. As I got working with him I noticed his coaching style was aggressive in tone and belittling. Though that worked for some people he was consulting it didn’t for me. I ended up finding another consultant.

Be patient. Having a mentor isn’t going to be your magic pill toward success. You’re still going to have to put in a lot of work to achieve the things you want to achieve. All a mentor does his help steer you in the right directions. Steering a car means nothing if the engine isn’t running. You’re the engine.